I want to be like this when I'm old.

This morning I read Psalm 71. I think this is a Psalm that relates to all of life as it speaks about birth (v6), youth (v5,17) and aged (v9,18). It was verse 18 that caught my attention though:

Even when I am old and gray,
do not forsake me, O God,
till I declare your power to the next generation,
your might to all who are to come.

Wouldn't it be great to have older Christians sharing their experience of life as a disciple of Jesus Christ? Of course, this assumes that there are older people who are disciples of Jesus Christ. I know there are because I have met some.

It also assumes that these people have something worth sharing. If you have been a worshipper of God through a life time, as the author of this Psalm clearly was, then you should have a lot of stories to share. So share them.

This verse also assumes that youth will listen.

So here is my prayer:
that youth will look to the older people of the church for wisdom
that youth will listen to that wisdom and learn from it
that older people will share their stories
that friendships between the generations will grow.

Then, when I am old and grey - though some might think I'm already there - I hope I will be able to continue to speak to youth about the glory of God. 

PYV North Camp 2017 – Day 3

Our second morning at camp is a beautiful spring morning, and when you get out of the room on a day like this, you know it’s going to be a great day. That was the thought and we weren’t disappointed.

The day began again with a leader’s meeting, then a prayer meeting before breakfast. One of the great things about breakfast on the final day of camp is that everything needs to be eaten, so eat as much as you like. Two of the boys on my table took up the challenge and had cereal, toast, then four servings of baked beans.

In our worship sessions we have been hearing about some of the key statements of the Reformation – grace alone, faith alone, and Christ alone. Today we read from Romans 4 and were confronted with the wonderful reality of faith alone. Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. This example is relevant for us today too – we can simply believe God.

Luke Brownley has spoken clearly and passionately to make the gospel of Jesus clear to those who are here at camp. We are grateful to him for his work before camp to prepare, his work at camp to proclaim that message, and his discussions with leaders and campers on the camp. We also thank Kathryn and the family for joining him at camp.

If you have had someone from your family or from your church at this camp, please ask them about Luke’s messages and what they have learned from that. You could also ask what they have experienced at camp.

Morning tea was great (though I missed out on the hot chocolate) and then we moved into our study groups. We believe that the discussions that have happened in these groups will have an eternal impact.

 

Before we went into lunch, there was a final team activity for the camp. Each team chose one ice-cream container. Each of these had a shirt inside. The race was to be the first team to have someone wearing that shirt. It sounds pretty simple at this point, but these containers had been filled with water and then frozen. I learned that not all materials thaw evenly. One team had a heavy cotton shirt that took so much longer to get out and get on. Perseverance can be a good thing, even if it doesn’t win you anything.

Over lunch, we said “Thank You” to our kitchen team, Anne Harvey and Louise Griffiths. They have been amazing over this weekend and have provided good food in great quantities. I should note that they spoke about those who came into the kitchen to offer to help in any way. Those volunteers were a great help. We thanked the leaders, the executive team, the campers, and finally we thanked Sherif & Lauren Mehanni, our camp conveners. They certainly brought together a great team of people to contribute to this camp. 

Thank You Everyone.

This North Camp has been absolutely fantastic. It has been our biggest north camp, and the campers and leaders have enjoyed the weekend together. If you have been praying for us over the camp, I thank you for doing so. Please keep praying for what God will do with all that has happened. 

PYV North Camp 2017 – Day 2

The weather changed yesterday afternoon, and we have woken to a much cooler morning. It is a beautiful time of year here and the while it is a little bit cooler, the warmth of spring is wonderful to feel. Even at 6.45am.

The leaders began the day together being briefed on the plans for the day ahead, and spending a bit of time to pray together. This is a great team of leaders, once again, and it is a joy to be amongst them for a weekend. If you have some of these people in your church community, please talk with them about their experience at North Camp. The leader’s meeting was followed by an open prayer meeting. Some of those reading this will know the joy of praying with others. But there is something different when praying with a group of young people, and hearing them pray for each other. May God continue to bless this generation.

Breakfast was terrific, as expected, and some of the boys seemed to be seeing how many weet-bix they could eat. I think the answer could be “more than can fit in that small bowl”, but they over filled the bowl anyway. Breakfast finished in time for us to prepare ourselves for our time of worship together which I missed while helping in the kitchen. Here’s a report from someone who was actually there:

Today Luke spoke on the topic of “In Christ Alone”. He spoke about how a drain was blocked at home, which he could not clear no matter how much or how hard he tried. Eventually he called the landlord, who got the plumber in, and he found some sticks and rocks in the drain. One of the children confessed, and was asked to pay for the repair – which was an impossible request. In grace, they were forgiven and the debt paid by Luke himself. Our debt can only be paid through Christ alone because of God’s grace.

As we are focussing on the Reformation, we are enjoying some reformation videos made by Luke and his family. Today we learned about Thomas Cranmer, who was burned at the stake for his faith. These are fun videos that help teach us a bit about these important men of the past.

Chats with Gresham, and a good review of a good book, and some good singing all contributed to this time at camp.

Yesterday’s afternoon tea featured some home-made cup-cakes. Today’s morning tea featured home-made choc chip biscuits. They made our home smell amazing while they were being cooked, and I’m sure they tasted fantastic too, but they were all gone by the time I got to the table. I should learn to remember that teenagers eat big and they eat fast. They certainly enjoyed these biscuits.

From there the campers divided into their study groups to discuss more about what they heard this morning. While they were doing this, the pastoral care team sorted through the response cards completed during the worship session so they could be handed to the study leaders. It was interesting reading the answers to the question “Are you right with God?” Some campers were very honest when they answered “No”, but it was their answer to the second question that really caught my eye. The second question was “How do you know this?” Some who said ‘no’ answered this question with “because we are all sinners” or words like that.

I was intrigued in reading this because it means they are understanding exactly what we are hearing from the book of Romans. We pray now that these young people will know the rest of the story and will be able to recognise that Jesus has paid for their sins, and in him they can be right with God.

Chicken wraps and fruit for lunch was followed by more outdoor activities. The cooler weather helped to keep us outside, though the strong wind helped some people more than others. Developing the skill to work in a team is an important skill to have, and our activity today helped to emphasise this, with varied levels of success. Once people realised the strength in the team, and people were playing to their strengths, things happened very quickly. 

Free time allowed people to rest, play board games, outdoor games, and it gave our leaders a chance to speak quietly with some of the campers. At PYV camps, we take the gospel of Jesus Christ seriously and are unashamed in our desire to help people come to faith in Jesus. If you send your child to camp, you can expect that they will be asked about their relationship with Jesus – and if they don’t have one, you can expect they will be invited to accept that Jesus is Lord.

An afternoon tea break (where I missed out on the lemon slice) continued the opportunity for people to play games, and to talk with each other. Then it was time to get into our costumes for the camp photo and the dinner activities. Each camp we have a theme and this camp has the theme of Time Travellers. Not surprisingly then, we had at least four versions of Doctor Who in the camp. Only one sonic screwdriver though.

PYV North Camp 2017

During dinner (lasagne) we enjoyed a camp concert. There was dad jokes, songs, whistling, a water joke, card tricks, and a DIY version of the Three Little Pigs. Even the young children who are at camp got involved. Perhaps the loudest applause was given to our cooks, Anne and Louise, who dragged out something from their Salvation Army history.  Well done them.

As I type this, people are either in here at the dining room playing various games around the tables, or they are sitting around a campfire enjoying some conversation. Or – and this is the first time we have done this at a camp – they are star gazing through a telescope. If the heavens really do declare the glory of God, and they do, then we will hear it loud and clear tonight.

Today is the long day of North Camp, and it has been a good day. We wait to see what Monday will bring, but we wait confident that God is in control and that it will be a good day indeed.

PYV North Camp 2017 - Day 1

Today is the first hot day of spring, and it is a good day to begin a camp. People are wearing t-shirts instead of the jackets and beanies we needed at East Camp in July. We, of course, are north of the divide and are enjoying the sunshine at Camp Curumbene. This site is surrounded by canola crops, so the colour is wonderful.

Campers arrived on time, which is always a good start, and after some time to play on the open spaces, we began with an introductory session. This is a good thing to have. At this session, we introduce the key leaders of the camp, and camp parents. We also hear from the owners of the camp about the local camp rules. We have been greatly blessed to be at campsites where the owners are genuinely pleased to have us there. This is a great thing.

A feature of North Camp 2016 was “Chats with Gresham”. It was fun to see that revived again in this session as one of the campers was interviewed and introduced to the rest of the camp.

A good lunch of salad rolls was followed by some activities. I have said that the weather is warm, and so nobody seemed to mind that one of the games involved water balloons. Another game also involved balloons, and the strong wind did make it difficult for some to get started, but we got there in the end.

Our first talk with Rev Luke Brownley confronted us all with the great need we have for salvation that can only be found in Jesus. Luke opened up the gospel and the illustrations he used were tremendously helpful to make the point clear – we are sinners, and no matter how ‘good’ we might think we are, we fall short of the glory of God.

After some afternoon tea, the study groups followed the trail to where they were meeting. While this was happening, a group of leaders who didn’t have the responsibility to lead a group met together to pray. If you have a child at this camp, please be encouraged to know that they are being prayed for.

Dinner was competing with the preliminary final (Go Tigers!!) for some people, but we all enjoyed some magnificent cooking from Anne and Louise. We have been greatly blessed to have such talented and capable people catering for us at North Camp. Apple crumble for dessert is always a winner too.

Night activities are always a fun event on camps, and Curumbene has a wide open space that is safe for us to use even in the dark. The games took a little while to get going, but once we got started, it was good to be outdoors. Now we enjoy some supper – more food!

Please keep praying for us at North Camp. It’s been a great start, and we look forward to what tomorrow will bring.